Coordinators of Boyertown's Relay for Life seek to move event in 2014

The Boyertown Relay for Life was held at Boyertown Stadium in 2012 with 44 teams and hundreds of people participating. This year's coordinators are seeking to move the 2014 event to Boyertown Community Park.
(Photo by John Strickler/The Mercury)

BOYERTOWN — The borough council recently approved a request to move the Relay for Life of Boyertown from the Boyertown High School football stadium to Boyertown Community Park.

The move would go into effect for the 2014 Relay for Life. The request was made by Mr. and Mrs. James Davidheiser.

The Davidheisers, coordinators of the Relay for Life, made the request because their agreement with the high school was coming to an end and they believe that the park will be a good home for the event.

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The Relay for Life is a 24-hour event to raise to raise money for cancer research. Teams split time walking around a track for 24 hours. Money is raised by individuals pledging money for how many miles each team can walk. While the other team members are not walking, they can partake of food, games, live music, and other activities going on around the track. Team members are able to camp out during the late hours of the event.

There were 43 teams constituting of 473 participants in the 2012 Relay for Life. These numbers do not reflect the number of people who came out to participate in the side events. The coordinators of the event are hoping that a change of scenery will generate more interest.

The Davidheisers like the park because it will provide more space than the high school did. The organizers also favor the new walking trail that the park has recently acquired. They want to use the walking trail as the track.

The majority of council members voiced their support of the idea. There were minor concerns raised that would need to be resolved prior to the event.

The council told the Davidheisers that they needed to bring a plan back with more details so that the council can make sure that all of the details will work out.

The proposal will be revisited in two months when all of the details can be presented.

The council believed that the Davidheisers would be able to put this event together. “I trust Jim and Dianne,” said Borough Manager Patricia Loder.

“I would want to re-evaluate the issue after the first one happens before we go into any long-term commitment,” said council President Frank Deery.

The council voted unanimously to have that event at the park contingent on the Davidheisers providing the necessary information to the council.